Label attaching mechanism for wrapping machines



May 16, 1950 J. w. SMITH 2,507,683

LABEL ATTACHING MECHANISM FOR WRAPPING MACHINES Filed March 31, 1947 J 4Sheets-Sheet 1 w 3 m Q INVENTOR.

Jab/7 M 6277/71? May 16, 1950 J. w. SMITH 2,507,683

LABEL ATTACHING MECHANISM FOR WRAPPING MACHINES May 16, 1950 J. w. SMITH2,507,683,

LABEL ATTACHING MECHANISM FOR WRAPPING MACHINES Filed March 31, 194'? 4Shets-Sheet 3 45 I 47 47 fig INVENTPR.

c/afm J/W/f/Y y 1950 J. w. SMITH 2,507,683

LABEL ATTACHING MECHANISM FOR WRAPPING MACHINES Filed March 31, 1947 4Sheets-Sheet 4 was &

INVENTOR.

"@FMLZJ Patented May 16, 1950 LABEL AT'IAOIIING MECHANISM FOR WRAPPINGMACHINES John W. Smith, Battle Creek, Micln, assignor to Battle CreekBread Wrapping Machine Company, Battle Creek, Mich.

Application March- 31, 1947, Serial No. 738,391

13 Claims. (01. 216-29) This invention relates to improvements in alabel attaching mechanism for a wrapping machine.

The principal objects of this invention are:

First, to provide an attachment for a web fed article wrapping machinesuch as a bread or cake wrapping machine which will print and applylabels to proper sections of the web asit is fed into the wrappingmachine.

Second, to provide a label attaching mechanism for a wrapping machinewhich will operate to attach a label to a portion of the web withoutinterrupting the feed of the web to the wrapping machine.

Third, to provide paper feeding mechanism for a wrapping machine havinga variable speed feed which will stop portions of the web for attachinglabels thereto without interrupting the variable feed of paper into thewrapping machine.

Fourth, to provide an attachment for a wrapping machine havingadjustable mechanism for taking up and feedin out slack in a continuousweb of wrapping paper on both sides of a label 1 attaching station sothat the web will remain stationary during label attaching operationswithout,

interrupting the continuous flow and output of the web from theattachment.

Fifth, to provide means for feeding, severing and attaching labels froma continuous roll of labels to a web of wrapping paper in which theattaching mechanism is adjustable laterally and angularly with respectto the web to selectively locatethe position of the label with relationto the edges of the web and the position of labels along the length ofthe web.

Sixth, to provide novel means for feeding a continuous strip of labelsto an attaching mechanism which means will maintain the strip of labelsin proper registry regardless of varying conditions of tension andelongation in the strip.

Other objects and advantages pertaining to the details and economies ofthe invention will be apparent from the description to follow and theclaims.

The drawings, of which there are four sheets, 11- lustrate a preferredform of my label attaching mechanism as applied to a wrapping machinefor baked goods.

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary, plan view of the inlet 2 Fig. 2 is afragmentary, vertical, longitudinal, cross sectional view along the line2-2 in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a fragmentary, elevational view of the leftside of the wrapping machine and label attaching mechanism as viewed inFig. 1.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary, elevational view of the right side ofthe wrapper feeding mechanism as viewed in Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged. fragmentary, plan view of the'label feeding andprinting mechanism illustrated in Fig. 1 with the label roll removed.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged, fragmentary, cross sectional view along thebroken lines 66 in Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 is an enlarged, fragmentary, cross sectional view along thebroken line 1-1 in Fig. 5.

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary perspective view of the label feeding roll inoperative position relative to the strip of labels.

The wrapping machine on which my label attaching mechanism is mountedconsists of suitable side frame members I, the rear ends of which areprovided with bearings for supporting a knife roll 2, pressure roll 3and feed roll 4.. The rolls are mounted respectively on a knife rollshaft 2A, pressure roll shaft 3A and feed roll shaft 4A. A driving shaft5 positioned underneath the knife roll 2 and adjacent to the stationaryknife 6 (see Fig. 2) is arranged to be driven from a suitable powersource by the driving chain 1 (see Fig. 1).

As is most clearly illustrated in Fig. 3, the driving shaft 5 isprovided on its left end with a gear 8 which is constantly meshing indriving relationship with a gear 9 carried on the end of the 5 kniferoll shaft 2A for rotating the knife roll at g a uniform speed. Theshaft 5 is also provided with a driving pinion In in constant. drivingengagement with an idler gear II. The idler gear H is in constantdriving engagement with a feed 0 roll gear I! arranged to drive the feedroll 4 in the manner which will be more particularly describedpresently. The idler gear H is mounted on a stub shaft l3 which is inturn mounted on a pivoted arm l4 having an arcuate slot therein andarranged to be clamped to the side frame I or feeding end of a wrappingmachine havin my roll relative to the knife roll and thus vary the labelattaching mechanism mounted thereon.

length of web fed into the machine between cutoff cycles of the kniferoll. The mechanism thus far described is more or less standard feedingmechanism for wrapping machines.

- The knife roll shaft 2A carries on its left end a crank wheel I5having a radially extending T- slot l5 formed along the outer surfacethereof. The slot I5 is arranged to receive a block I1 carrying a crankpin it. The block is adjustable radially in the slot by manipulation ofthe screw member l9 (see Fig. 3).

The crank pin I8 forms a pivotal connection for one end of a connectingrod 20, the other end of which is pivotally connected at 2| to a rockerarm 22. The rocker arm 22 is pivotally supported on a stub shaft 23 andis provided with an arcuate gear segment or rack 24 meshing with apinion 25 rotatable about the feed roll shaft 4A. It should be apparentthat when the block i1 carrying the crank pin is is located at thecenter of the crank wheel l5, no movement will be imparted to the rockerarm or gear segment so that the. pinion 25 will remain stationary. Asthe block I1 is moved radially outwardly in the T-slot IS, theconnecting rod and rocker arm will be actuated by rotation of the kniferoll to impart an oscillating motion to the gear rack 24 and pinion 25.

The pinion 25 and the feed roll driving gear l2 are connected to twoinner races of an overrunning clutch generally illustrated at 25 and theclutch is provided with a central outer race fixedly secured to the feedroll shaft 4A. Thus when no motion is imparted to the arcuate rack 24,the drive of the feed roll shaft 4A will be through the idler gear ll,driving gear l2 and its associated inner race to the outer race of theclutch 26 and shaft 4A. This drive will be of constant speed anddetermines the minimum length of web which will be fed through themachine before being severed by the knife roll 2. As oscillating motionis imparted to the arcuate rack 24, the pinion 25 and its associatedinner race will oscillate on the shaft 4A and while rotating 0pposite tothe feed roll will be disconnected therefrom by the over-running clutchso as not to interfere with the constant feed through the driving geari2. As the direction of rotation of the pinion 25 reverses and itsrotational speed becomes greater than that of the driving gear I2, theover-running clutch associated with the pinion 25 will pick up and drivethe outer race of the clutch 25 at a faster rate of speed than thedriving gear l2 and its associated inner race which will then idlebehind the outer race and the feed roll shaft 4A.

By means of this mechanism the feed of the web into the wrapping machinemay be made to run at a constant minimum speed throughout 180 of therotation of the driving shaft 5 and to increase to a greater speedduring the remaining 180 rotation of the drive shaft. Thus the length ofweb fed through the feeding rolls between cutoff cycles of the kniferoll may be readily varied to determine the length of wrapping sheetsfurnished to the wrapping machine by merely adjusting the screw I9.

The paper feeding and label attaching mechanism associated with thewrapping machine just described is provided with side frame members 21which are bolted or otherwise secured to the rear of the side framemembers I of the wrapping machine. The frame members 21 form supportsfor transversely extending rockshafts 28 and 29 and roll shafts 30 and3i (see Fig. 2). A guide roll shaft 32 also extends between the sideframe members 21. The rear ends of the side frame members 21 areconnected by a cross bar 33 which forms a support for the label feedingmechanism as will be described presently.

The right side frame member 21 as viewed in the drawings is providedwith a stub shaft 84 (see Fig. 4) on which is rotatably mounted a sleeve85 having two sprockets 36 and 36' secured thereto. The inner sprocket85 is arranged to be driven by a chain 31 from a sprocket on the rightend of the drive shaft 5. The outer sprocket 85 is connected by thechain 38 to a sprocket 88 rotatably mounted on the end of the roll shaft80. The roll shaft carries a cam wheel 40 and a pin type clutch 4! isprovided for connecting the sprocket 39 to the cam wheel and roll shaft.The shaft 80 may thus be connected to be driven in timed relationship tothe drive shaft 5 and knife shaft 2A.

The cam wheel 40 has a closed circuit cam slot 42 (see Fig. 4) on itsinner side which is arranged to actuate a cam roller 43 secured to avertical slide bar 44 slidable along the right side frame member 21. Theslide bar 44 carries a yoke 45 on its lower end having a horizontal slot46. The slot 45 is engageable with an adjustable crank block 41adjustably mounted in the slot 48 in the arm 49. A screw member 50 isprovided for adjusting the position of the block 41 in the slot 48. Thearm 49 is non-rotatably secured to the rockshaft 29 so that verticalmotion of the slide bar 44 under the influence of the cam roller 43 willbe transmitted through the block 41 into rocking motion of the arm 49and rockshaft 29. The amplitude of the rocking motion may be easilyadjusted by manipulation of the screw 50.

As is most clearly illustrated in Fig. 2 the rockshaft 29 is providedbetween the side frame members 21 with a pair of arms 5| supporting aswinging shaft 52 between their outer ends. The shaft 52 rotatablysupports an intake slack roll 58 which is oscillated between the fullline and dotted positions as shown in Fig. 2 to take up and give out alength of the wrapping web 54 as it is pulled in over the guide roller32.

The left end of the rockshaft 29 is provided with a crank arm 55 (seeFig. 3), the outer end of which is pivotally connected to a connectingrod 55. The upper end of the rod 55 is secured near the perimeter of acrank wheel 51 clamped to the left end of the rockshaft 28. Thusoscillation of the rockshaft 29 will result in simultaneous and oppositeoscillation of the rockshaft 28 and the amplitude of oscillation of bothshafts may be controlled and adjusted by manipulation of the screw 50.

The rockshaft 28 carries just inside of the side members 21 a. pair ofsprockets 58 oscillatably supportinga pair of chain loops 59. The lowerends of the chain loops are passed around suitable idler sprockets onstub shafts 50 (see Fig. 2). The stub shafts 50 are supported on thelower ends of the guide bars 5| extending downwardly and forwardly fromthe side frame member 21. The chain loops 59 are provided with speciallinks 52 forming bearings for an outlet slack roll 53 which is movedupwardly and downwardly by oscillation of the rockshaft 28 and chains59. The crank wheel 51 may be released from the shaft 28 for adjustmentof the chains 58 by loosening the locking hand wheel 51A.

The web of wrapping paper 54 as is shown in Fig. 2 is threaded from asupply roll 84 on the bottom of the wrapping machine frame over theguide roll 32 around the intake slack roll 53 and idler roll 80A fromwhere it passes over a label aso'nees attaching support 88 to the idlerroll 8|. From the idler roll 3| the web is passed around the outletslack roll 68 to the feed roll 8 of the wrapping machine.

Thus far it should be apparent that as the shafts 5 and 38 are driven,the feed roll 8 will deliver the wrapping web at a variable rate and therockshafts 28 and 28 will be oscillated at adjustably fixed amplitudesdepending upon the adjustment of the screw 88. As the feed shaft 8A isrotated by the driving gear I2 to feed the webat the minimum ratethrough the cutting rolls, the rockshafts 28 and will be oscillated toraise the slack roll 88 and swing the slack roll 53 forwardly. Thismotion results in the intake slack roll 58 taking up slack in the web 58as it is fed from the supply roll 88 and in the slack roll 83 feedingout slack to the feed roll 8. As a result that portion of the webpositioned over the label attaching support 88 will remain stationaryfor attachment of the label as will be described presently. As therotation of the drive shaft 5 and crank wheel l8 continuesbringing thearcuate rack 28 into driving operation to increase the rate of speed ofthe feed roll 8, the slack shaft 68 will descend taking up slack in theweb delivered around theidler roll 8I and the slack shaft 53 will bemoved to the rear delivering the web to the roll 88A at a faster ratethan the web is being supplied from the roll 68. Thus while the web isheld stationary at the label applying station through a portion of eachcycle,

Secured to the tops of the rearwardly extending plates 12 and 13 is abracket 85 having an upstanding arm carrying a stub shaft 88 on which areel 81 of blank labels is arranged to be secured. The strip of labelsindicated at 88 is led downwardly from the reel 81 around an idlerroll88 and forwardly over an impression roll 88. The impression roll 88is carried on a shaft which is rockably mounted on an arm 8| springurged upwardly against the printing roll 82 secured to the printing rollshaft 15. The inking roll 83 is carried on an arm 88 and arranged to inkthe type 85 carried on the printer roll for marking each label with adate or any other indicia. From the impression roll 88 the strip oflabels is led around a label feed roll 86 secured to the label feedshaft 18 from where the strip of labels is fed under a guide 81 to theknife 88 carried on the label knife shaft 18. A stationary knife 88cooperative with the rotating knife is mounted on the underside of asupport plate I88 extending from the rearwardly extending plate 13.

The clamp plate 88 which clamps the label feed bracket to the cross bar33 is provided with a forwardly extending arm I8I forming a verticalguide slot for a label attaching bar I82. The bar I82 carries anelectrically heated head I83 on the lower end thereof. The head I83 ispositioned over the label attaching support 65 and the bar is urgedconstantly downwardly by a coil spring I88. The upper end of theattaching bar is provided with a pin I85 which is arranged the feed froma supply roll 88 remains relatively constant eliminating jerks andstrains on the web.

The label applying mechanism is most clearly illustrated in Figs. 5, 6and '1 and consists of a bracket member 88 having an open slot 81 on itsforward side which slidlngly fits the cross member 33 extending betweenthe side frame members. A clamp plate 88 is provided on the front of thecross bar 33 for clamping the bracket to the cross bar. The clamp plate88 is provided with an upstanding bracket 88 (see Figs. 1 and '1) havinga tapped hole engageable by a screw 18 to laterally adjust the positionof the bracket on the cross bar 38. The shank of the screw 18 isrotatably secured in a bracket 1| secured to the forward side of thecross bar (see Fig. 1). The head of the screw engages one side ofbracket 1i, while a stop collar applied on the shankengages the other.

The bracket 68 includes rearwardly extending parallel plates 12 and 18which are bored to form bearings for a label knife shaft 18, printerroll shaft 15 and label feed shaft 18. The knife shaft 18 extends to theleft beyond the plate 12 and is iournaled in the left side frame 21 asat 11 (see Fig. 1) where it carries a free pinion 18 meshing with a gear18 secured to the end of the shaft 38. A pin type clutch 88 is providedfor connecting the gears 18 and 18 to the label knife shaft. The shaft18 has a telescopic sectional construction at 18A (see .Fig. 1) whichpermits the label feeding mechanism to be ad- Justed laterally on thebar 88 without interrupting the drive.

Adjacent to the left side of the rearwardly extending plate 12 the labelknife shaft 18 is provided with a sprocket 8I around which is passed achain 88 for driving the printer roll shaft 15 from the label knifeshaft. The printer roll shaft 15 is provided with another sprocket 88(see Fig. 3) for driving a chain 88 and the label feed shaft 18.

to be engaged and lifted by a dog I86 secured to the rockshaft I81. Therockshaft I81 is journaled in a boss I88 on the top of the plate 13 andis provided with a crank arm I 89 (see Fig. '7) connected to a link H8.The link defines a slot positioned around the printer shaft 15 andcarries a cam roller II I engageable with an attaching cam II2 rotatablewith the printer shaft 15. Thus as the dater shaft rotates, thedepressed portion of the attaching cam is brought into engagement withthe roller III permitting the link and crank arm to rise and therockshaft I81 to rotate forwardly lowering the dog I86 and attaching barI82.

As is most clearly illustrated in Figs. 1 and 3 the rockshaft I81extends beyond the label feeding mechanism to the side frame member 21where it is provided with a crank arm II3 connected to a link II8 whichextends downwardly to a crank arm H5 secured to a shaft H6. The shaft H6is arranged to control the rotation of the paper supply roll 88. Asliding telescopic connection H1 is provided in the rockshaft I81 sothat the label feeding mechanism may be adjusted laterally withoutaffecting continuous operation of the shaft I81. This connection betweenthe shaft II6 and I81 is provided so that when the machine is stoppedand the rotation of the feed roll 68 stopped by actuation of the shaft II8,the link H8 and rockshaft I81 will be actuated automatically to raisethe heated attaching head I83 from the web. Thus the heated head cannotbe accidentally left in contact with the web when the machine is stoppedand thus burn the label and web.

The arm 8I which supports the impression roll is non-rotatably securedto a shaft "8 journaled in the rearwardly extending walls 12 and 13 ofthe bracket 66. Between the walls 12 and 13 the shaft H8 is providedwith a crank arm H9 which is connected by the link I28 to a crank I2Isecured to the shaft I22. The shaft I22 is also journaled in the walls12 and 13 and supgnomes means of which shaft I22 may be locked in aforwardly rotated position which will operate to swing the arm SI andimpression cylinder downwardly out of engagement with the type roll 82so that the labels may be fed through the label feed mechanism withoutbeing printed.

The shaft I22 also carries an arm III on its right end, the lower end ofwhich carries a pressure roll I26 cooperative with the feed roll 94 forfeeding the strip of labels to the knife roll I4.

A feature of the feed roll 94 not readily apparent from the drawings butstill of major importance in the efficiency of the label feed is thefact that the diameter of the feed roll 94 is slightly larger than wouldapparently be needed to feed a given length of the label striptherearound. It will be noted that the strip of labels 44 is formed of aseries of identical labels separated by notches I21 along the edges ofthe strip and arranged to be severed between the opposed notches to formindividual labels. The feed roll 96 is provided with radially extendingpairs of prongs I28 arranged to mesh in the notches I21 to positivelyfeed the label strip to the knife roll. I have found that if thecircumference of the feed roll 98 between the pairs of prongs I28 isequal to the corresponding lineal distance between the adjacent pairs ofnotches I21 on the label strip, the labels will not be fed evenlythrough the attaching mechanism and the strip will ride up on the feedroll so that the prongs will not register with the notches as would beexpected. In order to correct this fault, I have found that byincreasing the diameter of the feed roll slightly so that thecircumferential distance between pairs of prongs I28 is slightly longerthan the lineal distance between the notches of the unstressed strip oflabels, the labels will feed smoothly through the feeding mechanism andthe prongs will at all times register with the notches I21.

From the foregoing description it should be apparent that the label feedroll 44 and printer shaft are driven in positively timed relationshipwith the knife roll 14 which is in turn driven in timed relationshipwith the feed of the web of wrapping paper to the wrappin machine. Thelabel feeding attachment will therefore print and feed a label to thewrapping web in each cycle of the web feeding mechanism so that thelabel will be positioned under the heated attaching head I03 in properrelationship to the incomingweb. The screw member I4 is operative toadjust the label feeding and attaching mechanism laterally of thewrapping web. The position of the labels may be adjusted longitudinallyof the web by loosening the locking wheel "A and turning the shaft 28independently of the crank wheel 51 to raise or lower the startingposition of the slack roll 63. A hand wheel I2! is keyed to the shaft 24for this purpose and a disc I30 having measuring indicia thereon is alsokeyed to the shaft (see Fig. 1) to readily indicate the adjustedposition of the shaft and the position of the labels longitudinally ofthe web. If the position of the slack roll 43 is relatively high on thechain loops 59, there will be a relatively short length of web betweenthe label attaching station and the feed roll 4 and the position of thelabels will be advanced toward the leading end of the web. Lowering theslack roll II retracts the position of the labels. The pin clutch."which connects the label knife shaft I4 and label. feeding mechanism tothe rest of the machine may be operated to delay the feed of the labelstrip to the web without affecting the relative angular positions of theoscillating shafts 24 and 29 with respect to the feed roll 4 of awrapping machine. Thus the machine is readily adjustable to feed andattach printed or unprinted labels to the web of the wrapping machine inany desired position.

When the block I! is adjusted on the crank wheel ii to vary the amountof web fed into the knife roll 2, a corresponding adjustment willnaturally be made in the position of the block 41 which controls theamplitude of oscillation of the rockshafts 24 and 24 and the length ofslack handled by them. The relative angular position between therotational cycle of the feed roll 4 and the oscillating cycle of shafts24 and 24 may be varied by releasing the pin clutch 4I and rotating thefeed roll 4 until the parts are in the desired relative angularrelationship.

It should be understood that the physical attachment between thewrapping web and the individual labels is accomplished by employing aweb or label or both which have a thermoplastic heat fusible compositionor coating which the heated attaching head I03 will bond together. Whilenotched labels are shown, labels with holes or closed slots along theiredges could be substituted and still cooperate with the pins I24 on thelabel feed roll and the term notched labels" is intended to beinterpreted in its broad sense to mean notches or openings engageable bythe pins.

I have thus described a highly practical commercial embodiment of mylabel attaching mechanism so that others may reproduce the same or withsuch minor modifications as are desired without further description.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is:

1. In combination with a wrapping machine having a feed roll arranged tofeed a length of web into said machine at a minimum rate through aportion of the rotation of said roll and at an adjustably increased ratethrough the remainder of the rotation of said roll, a label attachingmechanism comprising frame members secured to said wrapp machine andhaving a pair of idler rolls mounted therebetween, a pair of rockshaftsjournaled in said side frame members, a pair of arms secured to one ofsaid rockshafts and supporting an incoming slack roll therebetweenarranged to take up and give out slack in the web as it is fed to saididler rolls, a third arm on said one rockshaft link connected to a wheelon said other rockshaft for simultaneousoscillation of said rockshafts,sprockets carried by said other rockshaft, depending guide rods securedto said frame members and having idler sprockets at the lower endsthereof, chain loops positioned around said first sprockets and idlersprockets, an outlet slack roll supported between said chain loops foroscillation thereby to take up and give out slack in said web a it isdelivered from said idler rolls, a drive shaft for said label attachingmechanism driven in timed relationship to said wrapping machine, aclutch for disconnecting said dnive shaft from said wrapp machine, a camrotatable by said drive shaft, a cam follower actuated by said cam andarranged to oscillate an arm secured to said first rockshaft, theconnection between said arm and cam follower being adjustable radiallyof said arm, a label feeding roll driven from said drive shaft andarranged to feed a strip of labels to said web between said idler rolls,a label knife roll driven in timed relationship to said label feed rolland arranged to sever individual labels from said strip, and a heatedlabel attaching head positioned over said web between said idler rollsand cam reciprocated in timed relationship with said label knife shaftto attach said labels to said web.

2. In combination with a wrapping machine having a feed roll arranged tofeed a length of web into said machine at a minimum rate through aportion of the rotation of said roll and at an adjustably increased ratethrough the remainder of the rotation of said roll, a label attachingmechanism comprising frame members secured to said wrapping machine andhaving a pair of idler rolls mounted therebetween, a pair of rockshaftsjournaled in said side frame members, a pair of arms secured to one ofsaid rockshafts and supporting an incoming slack roll therebetweenarranged to take up and give out slack in the web as it is fed to saididler rolls, a third arm on said one rockshaft link connected to a wheelon said other roekshaft for simultaneous oscillation of said rockshafts,sprockets carried by said other rockshaft, depending guide rods securedto said frame members and having idler sprockets at the lower endsthereof, chain loops positioned around said first sprockets and idlersprockets, an outlet slack roll supported between said chain loops foroscillation thereby to take up and give out slack in said web as it isdelivered from said idler rolls, a drive shaft for said label attachingmechanism driven in timed relationship to said wrapping machine, a camrotatable by said drive shaft, a cam follower actuated by said cam andarranged to oscillate an arm secured to said first rockshaft, theconnection between said arm and cam follower being adjustable radiallyof said arm, a label feeding roll driven from said drive shaft andarranged to feed a strip of labels to said web between said idler rolls,a label knife roll driven in timed relationship to said label feed rolland arranged to sever individual labels from said strip, and a heatedlabel attaching head positioned over said web between said idler rollsand cam reciprocated in timed relationship with said label knife shaftto attach said labels to said web.

3. In combination with a wrapping machine having a feed roll arranged tofeed a length of web into said machine at a minimum rate through aportion of the rotation of said roll and at an increased rate throughthe remainder of the rotation of said roll, a label attaching mechanismcomprising frame members secured to said wrapping machine and having apair of idler rolls mounted therebetween, a pair of rockshafts journaledin said side frame members, a pair of arms secured to one of saidrockshafts and supporting an incoming slack roll therebetween arrangedto take up and give out slack in the web as it is fed to said idlerrolls, a third arm on said one rockshaft link connected to a wheel onsaid other rockshaft for simultaneous oscillation of said rockshafts,sprockets carried by said other rockshaft, depending guide rods securedto said frame members and having idler sprockets at the lower endthereof, chain loops positioned around said first sprockets and'idlersprockets. an outlet slack roll supported between said chain loops foroscillation thereby to take up and give out slack in said web as it isdelivered from said idler rolls, a drive shaft for said label attachingmechanism driven in timed relationship to said wrapping machine, a camrotatable by said drive shaft, a cam follower actuated by said cam andarranged to oscillate said first rockshaft, a label feeding roll drivenfrom said drive shaft and arranged to feed a strip of labels to said webbetween said idler rolls, a label knife roll driven in timedrelationship to said label feed roll and arranged to sever individuallabels from said strip, and a label attaching head position over saidweb between said idler rolls and cam reciprocated in timed relationshipwith said label knife shaft to attach said labels to said web.

4. In combination with a wrapping machine having a feed roll arranged tofeed a length of web into said machine at a minimum rate through aportion of the rotation of said roll and at an increased rate throughthe remainder of the rotation of said roll, a label attaching mechanismcomprising frame members secured to said wrapping machine and having apair of idler rolls mounted therebetween, a pair of rockshafts journaledin said side frame members, a pair of arms secured to one Of saidrockshafts and supporting an incoming slack roll therebetween arrangedto take up and give out slack in the web as it is fed to said idlerrolls, a third arm on said one rockshaft link connected to a wheel onsaid other rockshaft for simultaneous oscillation of said rockshafts,sprockets carried by said other rockshaft, depending guide rods securedto said frame members and having idler sprockets at the lower endthereof, chain loops positioned around said first sprockets and idlersprockets, an outlet slack roll supported between said chain loops foroscillation thereby to take up and give out slack in said web as it isdelivered from said idler rolls, a drive shaft for said label attachingmechanism driven in timed relationship to said wrapping machine, adriving member reciprocably connected to said drive shaft and arrangedto oscillate said first rockshaft, a label feeding roll driven from saiddrive shaft and arranged to feed a strip of labels to said web betweensaid idler rolls, a label knife roll driven in timed relationship tosaid label feed roll and arranged to sever individual labels from saidstrip, and a label attaching head positioned over said web between saididler rolls and cam reciprocated in timed relationship with said labelknife shaft to attach said labels to said web.

5. In combination with a wrapping machine arranged to draw in acontinuous strip of wrapping web at a variable rate during each cycle ofoperation thereof, web feeding mechanism comprising a pair of side framemembers secured to said wrapping machine and having an idler rollmounted therebetween, slack shafts oscillatably and rotatably mounted onsaid side frame members, a cam' driven from said wrapping machine, a camfollower driven from said cam, a crank arm adjustably secured to saidcam follower and arranged to oscillate said slack shafts, and a clutchinterposed between said cam and the driving connection to said wrappingmachine to adjust the relative angular oscillated position of said slackshafts with respect to said wrapping machine.

6. In combination with a wrapping machine arranged to draw in acontinuous strip of wrapping web at a variable rate during each cycle ofoperation thereof, web feeding mechanism comprising a pairofside-framemembers-secured latably and rotatably mounted on said side frame membersand arranged to take up and give out slack in said web on either side ofsaid idler roll 1 whereby said web remains stationary over a labelattaching station through a portion of the cycle of operation thereofwithout interrupting the continuous feed of web to said wrappingmachine, a rotating member driven from said wrapping machine, aconnecting member oscillatably driven from said rotating member, a crankarm adjustably secured to said connecting member and arranged tooscillate said slack shafts, and a clutch interposed between saidrotating member and said wrapping machine to adjust the relative angularoscillated position of said slack shafts with respect to said wrappingmachine.

'7. Label feeding mechanism for feeding a strip of labels to the web ofa wrapping machine comprising a bracket carried by said wrapping machineand adjustable laterally with respect thereto, parallel plates on saidbracket, a knife shaft and label feed shaft journaled in said plates andarranged to be driven from said wrapping machine, a support for a spoolof labels mounted on said plates, a feed roll carried on said feedshaft, a knife carried on said knife shaft, a label attaching barreciprocably mounted on said bracket for motion normal to said wrappingweb, a heated label attaching head carried by said bar, a cam rotated byone of said shafts, and a cam follower arranged to be actuated by saidcam and connected to reciprocate said label attaching bar, said feedroll having radially extending prongs thereon engageable with openingsbetween the labels of said spool of labels, the circumferential distancebetween said prongs being slightly greater than the length of saidlabels between said openings.

8. In combination with a wrapping machine arranged to continuously drawin a web of wrapping paper and sever the web into a series of wrappingsheets, label attaching mechanism comprising frame members secured tosaid machine and having web directing rolls mounted therebetween, partof said rolls being oscillatably mounted and arranged to cause part ofsaid web to be held stationary over a label attaching station throughouta portion of the cycle of said machine, a cross plate supported betweensaid frame members and adjacent to the label attaching station, labelfeeding and securing means supported upon said cross plate andadjustable laterally therealong, means for oscillating said rolls bodilywhile permitting rotation thereof, a driving connection for saidoscillating means from said wrapping machine, a clutch interposed insaid driving connection, another driving connection for driving saidlabel feeding and securing means from said oscillating means, anotherclutch interposed in said other driving connection, and a knife shaftforming a driven part of said other driving connection arranged to severindividual labels from a continuous strip of labels advanced by saidlabel feeding and securing means prior to the delivery of said labels tothe securing portion of said means.

9. In combination with a wrapping machine arranged to continuously drawin a web of wrapping paper and sever the web into a series of wrappingsheets, label attaching mechanism comprising frame members secured tosaid machine between, said rolls being oscillatablyarransedto cause partof said web to be held stationary over a labelattaching stationthroughout a portion of the cycle ofsaid machine, a cross membersupported between said frame members, label feeding and securing meanssupported upon said cross member and adjustable laterally therealonmeansfor oscillating said rolls bodily while permitting rotationthereof, a driving connection for said oscillating means from saidwrapping machine, a clutch interposed in said driving connection,another driving connection for driving said label feed and securingmeans from said oscillating means, and a knife shaft forming a part ofsaid other driving connection arranged to sever individual labels from acontinuous strip of labels advanced by said label feeding and securingmeans prior to the delivery of said labels to the securing portion ofsaid means.

10. In combination with a wrapping machine arranged to continuously drawin a web of wrapping paper and sever the web into a series of wrappingsheets, label attaching mechanism comprising frame members secured tosaid machine and having web directing rolls mounted therebetween, saidrolls being oscillatably arranged to cause part of said web to be heldstationary over a label attaching station throughout a portion of thecycle of said machine, a cross member supported between said framemembers, label feeding and securing means supported upon said crossmember and adjustable laterally therealong, means for oscillating saidrolls bodily while permitting rotation thereof, a driving connection forsaid oscillating means from said wrapping machine, another drivingconnection for driving said label feed and securing means from saidoscillating means, a clutch interposed in said other driving connection,and a knife shaft forming a driven part of said label feeding mechanismarranged to sever individual labels from a continuous strip of labelsadvanced by said label feeding and securing means prior to the deliveryof said labels to the securing portion of said means.

11. In combination with a wrapping machine arranged to continuously drawin a web of wrapping paper and sever the web into a series of wrappingsheets, label attaching mechanism comprising frame members secured tosaid machine and having web directing rolls mounted therebetween, saidrolls being arranged to hold said web stationary throughout a portion ofthe cycle of said machine, a cross member supported between said framemembers and adjacent to the stationary portion of said web, labelfeeding and attaching mechanism supported upon said cross member andadjustable laterally therealong, a driving connection for driving saidfeeding rolls from said wrapping machine, a, clutch interposed in saiddriving connection, another driving connection for driving said labelfeed and attaching mechanism from said rolls, and another clutchinterposed in said other driving connection.

12. In a label feed mechanism arranged to feed a continuous strip oflabels to a wrapping machine, said strip being notched on the oppositeedges thereof and arranged to be severed at said notches to formindividual labels, a feed roll for advancing said strip, and pairs ofprongs projecting from the surface of said roll and arranged to engagethe notches in said strip, the circumferential distance between saidpairs of prongs being slightly greater than the lineal distance betweensaid notches in the unstressed condition of said and having webdirecting rolls mounted there- 15 label strip.

label strip.

JOHN W. SMITH.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

Number UNITED STATES PA'I'EN'I'S Name Date Edwards July 8, 1902 BechmanJune 2, 1908 Beerworth Apr. 22, 1924 Caldwell June 3, 1941 Bailey May 7,1946

